PNB sees 28-29% loan growth; to launch credit cards in Jan

State-owned, Punjab National Bank (PNB) today said it expects a healthy 28-29 per cent loan growth in the current financial year on the back of strong demand and sees its badloans under 'manageable levels' in the months ahead.

"We have seen a good demand for loans and it (the credit growth) should be in the range of 28-29 per cent for the fiscal (2008-09)," PNB's Chairman and Managing Director, K C Chakrabarty told reporters here today.

The bank also hopes to launch is credit-card business sometime in January and is understood to have reached in agreements with Visa to avail the technology platform for the business, Chakrabarty said.

PNB has an advance-base of 1.37 lakh-crore and a deposit-base of around 1.87 lakh-crore as on December 19. At present, its net non-performing assets (NPA) stands at below 0.5 per cent and gross NPAs around 2.5 per cent, he said.

The bank is confident to maintain its NPAs under manageable levels eventhough some slippages are expected in its risky asset portfolios in the latter half of next year, he said.

"We do not expect any major increase in our badloans from any specific portfolios... NPAs are not sector specific and depends upon the abilility of the customer in repaying the loan... It (NPA) is under controllable limits," Chakrabarty said.

On a year-on-year basis, PNB registered a 29.5 per cent growth in deposits while its advances grew by around 34 per cent as on December 19, he added.

A robust business growth in various segments is expected to help the bank to maintain a net ineterest margin of 3.4-3.5 per cent in the current fiscal, he said.